Lady Anne and the Revenge of the Barbary Ghost **Donna Lea Simpson**

Fleeing the attentions of the handsome and commanding Marquess of
Darkefell, Lady Anne Addison arrives on the doorstep of her dear friend.
Seeking nothing but rest and relaxation, she soon finds herself putting
her investigative talents to work after a sighting of the Barbary
Ghost. Always a skeptic of the supernatural, Anne immediately suspects
the apparition is nothing more than a diversionary tactic to conceal
smugglers on the beach below her friend’s house.

When the
infuriating – though enticing - marquess follows her to Cornwall, Anne
is distracted from her ghost hunt by his alluring kisses, until murder
gets her attention. Forced once again to work with the marquess to
uncover the truth behind a mystery, she soon discovers that her
passionate attraction to him has not abated. Should she run from him
again, or give in to temptation?

My Opinion:

Lady
Anne and the Barbary Ghost
is a definite recommendation for me. In the first book, Lady
Anne and the Howl in the Dark,
I was a bit disappointed because the book felt unresolved. Now with a
continuation of the first book, I am satisfied to see their
relationship play out.

Personally,
I love Tony, the Marquess of Darkefell. He's dark, sensitive,
powerful and sweet to Anne, but Anne at times played on my nerves.
She's witty, intelligent, and loves adventure, but very independent
and believes that she doesn't want to marry, especially Darkefell. He
tries to convince Anne that he loves her and that they should marry
throughout the whole novel, but Anne feels that her independence will
end once she marries, and that her life will forever be controlled by
this man. For me, I felt a lot for Darkefell because he would
proclaim his love to Anne, and he only wanted to keep her safe from
harm, but she was convinced that he was only trying to entrap her
into a life where she had no freedoms and would be unhappy.

Previously
in Lady
Anne and the Howl in the Dark,
Lady Anne Addison had visited her friend, Lydia, after realizing her
friend needed her help. They were in danger, for a crazy murderer was
roaming around Darkefell castle and Anne set out to help her. On her
journey to Lydia, Anne encounters a murdered woman and wants to
discover the murderer and the strange howls she hears in the woods.
Tony, the Marquess of Darkefell, is Lydia’s brother-in-law and
finds himself intrigued by this adventurous spinster known as Anne.
Anne became caught up in a mess on Darkefell’s estate where she was
nearly killed by a lunatic named Hiram
Grover,
but Darkefell was there to save her life just in time. When Darkefell
made the spur-of-the-moment proposal to Anne, she panicked and left,
leaving him confused on her whereabouts and why she denied him.

In
Lady
Anne and the Revenge of the Barbary Ghost,
Anne now feels the need to get away and think her life through, so
she decides to stay with Lady Pamela and Marcus St. James in
Cornwall. One night while sneaking out on the cliff by the St. James’
home, Anne saw a vast amount of smugglers below on the beach
performing their tasks. She was intrigued, and frightened, but was
interested in the adventure lurking below. At that moment, she saw
the famous “Barbary Ghost” trying to scare away the smugglers.
Anne quickly ran back to Cliff House and told Pamela of her findings.
Supposedly, long ago there was a pirate who kidnapped a young girl
with whom he fell in love with, but had to return her to Cliff House
to her family where she later died. He was angry, and now there is
the tale of the Barbary Ghost taking revenge for his love. Later
throughout the novel, we find out that the Barbary Ghost is really
just a myth, but the man portraying as the ghost is trying to protect
his loved ones from the smugglers.

As
Anne tries to solve the identities behind the Barbary Ghost and the
smugglers, Darkefell walks back into her life. He spoke with her
mother and grandmother and they believe he will propose to Anne.
Anne’s family highly supports the marquess's interest to marry
Anne, although he hadn't asked them directly for her hand.

When
Darkefell follows Lady Anne to Cornwall, she confides in him all the
illegal activities at Cliff House and of the Barbary Ghost. He
doesn't fully believe in the ghost, but he is concerned for her
safety and decides to try to protect Anne by revealing the criminals
and whatever man is behind the “Barbary Ghost”.

Soon,
Darkefell realizes that Marcus St. James is interested in marry Anne,
but when Marcus rudely speaks of her as plain and unwanted, Darkefell
strikes him causing a scene. Anne first believes Darkefell is at
fault, but later understands that he was sticking up for her and
defending her honor. But when murder strikes Cornwall, and everyone
is eying each other as a suspect, secrets are revealed leading to
murderers, criminals, and love. Anne wants to confide all the illegal
activity she knows of by Cliff House, but she had made promises to
dear people in her life, and feels pulled on whether she should tell
him everything and break a promise, or put lives in danger and keep
the truth from Darkefell.

I
really enjoyed this novel, for when two different characters come
together, they will make the most interesting novel! Will Lady Anne
discover the murderer and find a way to stop the smuggling that
involves her loved ones? Will she realize her true love for the
marquess, or runaway again? Who is guilty, and who will is innocent
when it comes to love and crime? Read Lady
Anne and the Barbary Ghost
to find out!

***This
novel continues with The
Curse of the Gypsy: A Lady Anne Mystery.
I recommend reading these first two Lady Anne books before reading
The
Curse of the Gypsy: A Lady Anne Mystery.
All three books are continuations of each other, so you might be a
bit left out on important events involving the development of the
hero and heroine.***

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Sensuality Ratings

G - Love scenes, but little or no sex.PG - Non-descriptive sex, nothing graphic.PG-13 - More descriptive, but nothing wild or kinky.R - Lovemaking, and plenty of it - described in lots of detail.NC-17 - This book is hot, hot, hot!

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Negative Reviews:

If I give you a negative review, sorry guys. I always feel guilty, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to be honest. The review is too help you, maybe fix mistakes or whatever. It has no personal reflection on you, just the book itself. You can't please everyone.